The Path of a Hero
by LifeWithoutPeace
Summary: Jaune's path to heroism is one paved in blood and hardship. This is his story.
1. The Death of a Phoenix

Chapter 1 - The Death of a Phoenix

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The path of a hero is the most unforgiving crucible one could tred. Through death and regret even the strongest of wills will shatter. Through the pain of loss and the weight of helplessness even the most driven will falter. Through the blood of those fallen even the brightest of hopes will be extinguished. The way of a hero has forsaken many before, and will do so for all of time, however it isn't one without merit. For those who stand back up after having their hope destroyed, those who fight even though hope had abandoned them long ago, those are the ones that will inherit the power of a hero. Because it is only when things are at their most bleak when a person's true character can be tested. If one remains strong enough to push through the despair and the hardships, only then they can truly call themselves a hero. However, be wary at hardship to come, as even the greatest hero known to man went through the same turmoil, and not even he could have anticipated the horrors he had to endure.

The ground was littered with bile and decay, as the ocean turned red with blood flowing down from the burning remains of buildings. The smoldering wooden walls that were created to safeguard both Human and Faunus from the darkness known as the Grim collapsed and with it all traces of the once bustling settlement were reduced to ash. However, there yet remained a single survivor, a young man in his early twenties. His blood stained blonde hair draped over his pale white face, as tears streamed down his dented metallic armor spattered in a dark red mix of blood and ash. His once lively blue eyes fell defeated on several shattered fragments of metal, and a hilt engraved with the name _Arc_. His name was Jaune Arc, and this is his origin story.

 _Several hours earlier_

The hum of an air transport could be heard miles away as it skillfully navigates over the crystal blue morning water off the coast of Vale.

Inside the transport's cabin four young adults begin to wake up to the first rays of sunlight as the pilot's voice crackles over the intercom.

"We will be arriving in the settlement of Phoenix Landing in five."

The first to wake was an orange haired woman sporting a hot pink skirt with her trademark heart t-shirt. Her jade eyes flutter open as she lets out an overly exaggerated yawn, throwing her arms around the dark hair man next to her.

The man opens his pale pink eyes, straightening the wrinkles out of his tradition green jacket attire. He glances over at her placing his hand on her head with a smile. "Why hello there Nora."

Nora smiles back at him running her hand through the pink highlight in his hair. "I hope you slept well Ren"

Ren nods turning his attention towards the red-haired woman in front of him. "What about you Pyrrha, did you sleep well?"

She rubs her green eyes and stretches her other arm into the air, "Only as good as one could expect sleeping in chairs like these."

Ren shakes his head slightly. "What did you expect when you decided to wear your armor under these buckles?"

Nora let go of Ren to examine the stiffness of the buckles and the roughness of the leather seats. "I don't know about you, but I slept like a baby!" She says sticking her thumb up in approval.

"Nora you always sleep like that though" Ren comments looking over at the excitement in her eyes.

Nora grabs one of Ren's hands holding it firmly "Only when I'm around you Ren!"

Ren gasps her hand smiling back at Nora. "So, it seems"

Pyrrha glances toward the blonde-haired man sitting next to her, still fast asleep in his chair.

Nora notices Pyrrha and looks over at the slumbering man. "Jaune was always the heavy sleeper, wasn't he?"

Pyrrha smiles and glances over at him "He is kind of cute asleep though."

Nora learns forward in her seat grinning at Pyrrha. "Awe look at your knight in shining armor here to rescue you from the life of singlehood! Look he even has the white armor to show!" She explains pantomiming a damsel in distress. "You two really are adorable, why don't you just tell him how you feel Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha's face blushes as she desperately tries to cover the obvious message she was portraying to no avail. "What no of course not, I mean he is cute, but ahhhhh!"

Nora falls back to her seat chuckling. "Don't worry Pyrrha, your secret is safe with me." She assures Pyrrha as she crosses her fingers behind her back.

Pyrrha sighs in relief as Ren interjects himself. "So guys don't you think it would be a good idea to wake Jaune up? We do need to go over the mission after."

Pyrrha nods and moves over lightly shaking Jaune. "Hey Jaune, it's time to get…"

Nora gestures for Pyrrha quiet down as she leaned towards Jaune's ear. "Jaune the floor is lava!"

Jaune jumps to flailing his arms around, kicking his feet around the cabin. "Lava hot, hot, hot lava!"

The cabin breaks into laughter as Jaune frowns at Nora. "Not cool Nora, not cool"

The laughter continued as Pyrrha trying to wipe the tears of laughing so much raises her hand attempting to move forward with the briefing. "Okay guys, since Jaune has _finally_ joined us we can go over the mission parameters one last time."

Nora nods as followed by Ren folding his arms looking over at Jaune. "Okay Jaune you are the team leader what's the plan?"

Jaune collects himself giving Nora one last glare for being _uncool_ he pulls out his scroll from his side pocket. "Okay as we are now newly certified team of full-fledged hunters and huntresses we were given a top ranked mission to investigate abnormal Grim activity on the island settlement of Phoenix Landing off the coast of Vale. The island is in a remote region only accessible by air due to a large reef bed surrounding the island making boat travel impossible. Several days ago Beacon received a message from the settlement about strange Grim behavior. That is why team JNPR was sent out to investigate and suppress any Grim that pose a threat to the wellbeing of the citizens within the settlement."

The intercom crackles on. "Phoenix Landing is directly ahead; however, I can't reach them on any channels."

Jaune looks out of the window towards the island ahead of them. "This can't be good."

The other three nod in agreement pulling out their stashed weapons from the carry on. Pyrrha grabs onto her spear and shield placing them on her back, Ren his twin green pistols sliding them into their holsters, Nora and her overly sized hammer placing it on her shoulder, and Jaune with his family's sword and shield in which he slid into its sheath.

Jaune gets up from his seat. "Now bring it in guys." He reaches his hand out towards the others.

Pyrrha chuckles placing her hand on top of his hand. "It wouldn't be a team JNPR mission without this would it?"

Nora bubbly as ever throws her hand on top of the two hands throwing her other hand up into the air energetically. "Let's do this!"

Ren sighs in defeat as he places his hand on top of the pile. "Sounds good to me."

Jaune smiles looking over team JNPR. "Okay guys no matter what is thrown at us we will hold fast, we are the Rook of Beacon after all and no matter what we will _**all**_ return safe!"

Everyone throws their hands up in the air. "Break!"

Ren moves over sliding open the side door to the transport as the transport began its descent. The other three hunters move up to join him overlooking the quant settlement. The settlement was not much larger than a medium sized town back in Vale, but it's goliath size oak walls would give even Beacon's walls a run for their money. Most notably there was a distinct building in the center of the settlement that towered over the rest. The sound of breaking waves and birds sung over the hum of the transport as moves in to land.

Pyrrha's green eyes sparkle at the view. "It's so beautiful."

Ren thoughtfully give the view another view. "I don't know about you but this place kind of reminds me of a giant dart board."

Jaune shakes his head dismissal "Gosh Ren why do you have to be pessimistic?"

Ren looks over at Jaune and sighs. "Facts tend to be quite pessimistic sometimes, but it doesn't really matter since we have arrived."

The transport touches down on a small landing pad within the settlement. The transports loud hum fades away to the sound of several people making their way to the transport.

The first of these was an older bald man decorated in clean white robes who held a staff in one hand and extended his other in greeting. "Hello hunters and huntresses I am the settlements leader Father Peter, we have been waiting for your arrival."

Jaune walks up to him accepting his outreached hand. "Hello sir we were sent by Beacon on the account of the Grim."

The older man's face grew dark as he frowned at the recent arrivals. "We usually are able to handle the Grimm located outside our walls, however we never had to deal with something so large before."

Pyrrha's interjected between the two men. "What do you mean by large sir?"

The older man looked down at his feet trying to find the right words for such a horrendous situation. "It would be best if you saw it for yourself."

Everyone on the landing platform remained silent as the reality of the situation slowly sank in, until Jaune broke the silence. "Come on guys we are Hunters, and we were trained to defeat Grimm no matter what. It's only one Grimm against the four of us, and even though I'm not a gambling man I really like those odds."

Pyrrha smiled placing her hand on Jaune's back. "Well said Jaune!"

The older man coughed as if demanding our attention. "We humbly ask that you destroy the large Grimm before it turns it gaze on our home."

Nora throws her thumb out in agreement. "Just show us the way old man geezer!"

The older man nodded towards the group of hunters, gesturing for them to follow. "Thank you, brave hunters, please come with me. I'll show you the last place we saw the beast.

The group of hunters being led by the settlement leader make their way through bustling streets full of joy, trade, and life, as if the idea of the Grimm was a forgotten nightmare.

A red ball rolls up to Nora as a little girl with brown ponytails comes to retrieve it. "I'm sorry ma'am." She says grabbing onto her ball and running back to her awaiting mother.

Nora couldn't help but to smile at the innocent little girl. "She's so cute! Hey Ren, do you think I'm cute?"

Realizing the question only had one real answer unless one preferred having the hammer brought down on them, Ren smiles and grabs her hand. "Of course you are."

Jaune looks over at them and the little girl as he throws his arms behind his head. "I don't know about you but after having as many sisters as I have cute is the last word I would think of."

Pyrrha looks over recognizing one of the building from their airborne view earlier. "Hey guys isn't that the large building that stood out from earlier?"

Jaune looks up awestruck at the size of the structure they were passing. "It's so much larger up close, and what is that thing there near the top?"

The older man grins with pride. "Why yes that is our town hall, it serves as a beacon of hope, and a last line defense against the Grimm. It is even equipped with its own cannon in case of emergencies."

Ren glances up at fortress of a town hall. "At least their prepared if things go for the worst. Let's just hope it never comes to that."

The older man stops the group in front of a large wooden door that leads beyond the settlement. "There is no need to worry. No Grimm stands a chance getting past our walls. We had taken every precaution against the Grimm, and now it is your job to investigate the Grimm located outside of these walls: Good Luck!"

Jaune places one hand on the large wooden gate while padding down his sheathed Arc crested sword. "Don't worry you have team JNPR we don't need luck. That Grimm won't know what hit him after we are done with it!"

The older man nods waving down a guard posted on top of the gatehouse. "Open the Gate the hunters are heading out to kill some Grimm!"

The gate slowly opens allowing the four hunters to make their way through.

Some of the guards were learning over the wall. "Good luck to you all! Come bring us it's corpse! Go get em!"

Motivated and ready for the worse they begin to move towards the oak forest before them, and towards the Grimm that will be slain.

Hiking through brush and thicket the hunters push on searching for anything that fit the description of the large Grimm, however the task is proving to be more difficult than the four could have predicted.

All that was found was a whole lot of nothing, which in reality was the part they worried most about.

Jaune begins pacing back and forth as his obvious confusion of the situation bothered him. "Now if I was a really large Grimm, where would I hide?"

Nora looks frustratedly at Jaune pacing back and forth. "Jaune I doubt a Grimm would pace back and forth in the most annoying way possible!"

Ren raises his hand in the air demanding silence. "Guys do you smell that?"

Pyrrha takes in begins to sniff around when she understood what Ren was getting at. "Smoke… and where there is smoke there's fire."

Ren points up the side of a large hill in the distance. "Where there is fire, there is most likely Grimm. Let us go!"

The four of them follows the scent trail up the side of the hill towards what could be described as a clearing of broken trees and smoldering embers.

Ren moves in and examines the embers and trees around them. "Guys this just happened, and since I don't see a thundercloud anywhere, what do you think burned these trees down?"

The group grows tense as their examination of the area fails to come up with any explanation for the fire.

Pyrrha looks up at the sky, frowning in disappointment. "Guys I don't think there's any…"

The ground begins to shake underneath them cutting Pyrrha off mid-sentence.

Nora stumbles to the grounds. "What the heck is going on?"

Ren placed his hand on the ground confirming the fears he had. "The Grimm, it's beneath us right now!"

In a matter of moments, the ground cracks open as four large spiked legs break through. The four hunters evade back into the forest as a large shell of a Grimm rose from the dirt.

Pyrrha looks back at the Grimm reading her spear. "Is it just me or does that look like a giant turtle?"

Nora drops the head of her hammer to the ground. "You mean to say a giant _Grimm_ turtle."

Ren shakes his head at the two pointing towards the Grimm's back. "All things considered I'm more worried about the large red glowing lump on its back.

Juane looked up in fear. "What the hell is that?"

The lump begins to glow a brighter and brighter red until in a flash of sparks it discharges a ball of flaming artillery towards the nearby woods. The impact alone indented itself into the earth as the resulting fire spread like water.

Finally understanding the gravity of the situation Jaune directs himself towards his other teammates. "We need to take this Grimm down now! Nora and Ren go in for a direct hit on it's cannon, use Flower power!" The two acknowledge and move in towards the Grimm as Jaune places his hand onto Pyrrha's shoulder. "We need to go for its legs."

No words were spoken as the team burst into action with Ren laying down a stream of bullets with his green pistols, somersaulting on the back of the large Grimm. He switches out his twin pistols for knives and slices into the flaming red cannon creating a weak spot for Nora. Nora jumps into the air with her hammer in full swing. She pummels her hammer into the soft spot created by Ren causing the cannon to explode. The explosion sent fire in every direction throwing Ren and Nora back. The Grimm begins to bellow in pain as the wound on its back burned. It shrieks in agony as one after another it's legs were cut off by Jaune's sword being augmented with Pyrrha's Polarity Semblance. The Grimm falls to the ground desperately trying to escape the hunters as Pyrrha runs up to its face piercing her spear deep into the Grimm as it disperses into ash. It was over.

Jaune falls to the ground sighing in relief. "Congrats guys on a job well done."

The others join in around him relieved at the momentous task they completed.

Jaune looks up through the clearing. "Hey look, I can see the settlement from here."

Pyrrha joins Jaune on the ground. "At least the mission is done, and the people don't have anything to worry about." She glances over at Jaune with a smile. "Thanks to our brave leader".

Jaune's cheeks flusher at her compliment. "What… I mean... It was a team effort and all, but…" Jaune stops with to the feeling of Pyrrha's head leaning on his shoulder.

Jaune's face turns a bright red as he watches Nora and Ren purposely walk away. "Hey there, ummm…. You're really close… there and all… and."

Jaunes' words trail off as Pyrrha look up at him with a smile. "What's wrong Jaune?"

Sighing at the thought Jaune moves his hand over Pyrrha's hand. "Oh well Pyrrha I was meaning to tell you something."

Pyrrha's cheeks flush as her attention locks in on Jaune and every word he spoke. "What… What is it?"

Jaune scratches the back of his head and after a last moment of hesitation he proceeded. "Pyrrha I think I'm in lo…"

The earth begins to rumble beneath the hunters just as it did before, cutting Jaune off in confusion. Ren and Nora run up to the two of them pulling their weapons to the ready.

Jaune get to his feet moving over to Ren. "Is another Grimm?"

Ren shakes his head. "I don't know, but we did spot dozens of burning clearing identical to this one all over this hill!"

The tremors intensify as roars could be heard across the forest. The once held feeling of victory the four hunters held was quickly replaced with fear as fire lit up the sky.

Jaune almost to shocked for words looks down at the settlement. "No this can't be". He jolts back towards his team as worry and doubt fills his heart. "They're attacking the settlement."

As soon as the words left Jaunes lips the trees behind them explodes as fire shoots out in all directions.

The four of them turn at the approaching wall of fire as Jaune reaches for his shield. "Get to cover!"

Pyrrha and Jaune find cover with their shields, as Nora freezes with no viable cover close by she collapses in fear as the flames reach her: but they didn't.

Nora looks up seeing the body cloaked in green shielding her from the flames. In complete shock she stares as the flames engulf Ren. "Ren …Ren… Why?"

The fires dissipate around them as Ren screams out in pain, falling limp on top of Nora.

Nora catches him laying him on his back. "Ren you dummy! Why did you do this!" She screams, tears run down her cheeks as she grabs hold of Ren's hand.

Jaune runs over seeing the crumpled teammate on the ground. His body was covered in a multitude of burns covering his back and the left side of his face. "Damn it Ren, Pyrrha grab me the bandages from my pack!"

Pyrrha runs over with the first aid kit form Jaune's pack. "Here you go Jaune."

Jaune proceeds to tend to Ren's injuries as Nora sat petrified at the sight of Ren. "Your fine right? Please just tell me your kidding… Ren get up… Ren…Ren." Her tears grow into sobs as she tightens her grip on Ren's hand.

Ren grunts in pain "Nora… that kind of hurts!"

Nora throws her arms onto Ren as tears of relief run down her face. "You idiot!"

Ren cringes at the pain and sits up looking at Jaune. "I'll be okay, I'll be okay, but I can't see out of my left eye."

Jaune grabs the last if the bandages place it over his left eye. "It will be okay Ren, we will get through this, but we need you right now. Do you think you can stand?"

Ren puts slowly pushes up on his feet clenching his teeth in pain. "More the most part…"

Jaune looks over and both Nora and Ren and back to Pyrrha. "Nora can you carry Ren?" Nora wipes the tears from her face nodding her head. "Good, Pyrrha I need you to take point while I take the rearguard with Ren and Nora taking the middle. We are going back to the settlement! Those people need our help, and we will not let them down!"

The four of them depart down the burning forest towards the settlement. They exit the forest into the clearing by the settlement realizing the true gravity of the situation. The Grimm where everywhere, with dozens identical to the Grimm they defeated on the hill, and they were all sieging the walls to the settlement. The sound of cannon fire echoes through the air as the team stands where the gatehouse once stood, now being reduced to ash. The buildings inside of the settlement were burning as more and more Grimm flood in slaughtering anyone they found. The team runs into the flames but stops when they reached what was left of the marketplace. Piles of burnt corpses paralyze the team as a little red ball rolls up to Jaune dripping in blood.

Jaune looks around at the dead bodies littering the streets, as his face ran pale in despair and guilt. "It's all my fault… I'm team leader and I let these people die… Arghhhhh!". Jaune screams as tears roll from his face.

Pyrrha grabs onto Jaune looking back at the others. "Nora, get Ren to the transport and be ready we might have to bail."

Nora steps in face full of rage. "How could we run away when everyone here is dying!"

Tears fall from Pyrrha's face as she faces Nora. "Would you risk Ren's life on that? Besides, if we die here who will warn Beacon or Vale of this!" Her face drops towards the frightened and confused Jaune. "Get the transport and meet us at the roof of the town hall. Jaune and I will look for any survivors."

Ren places his hand on Jaune. "Let's go."

Without much of a choice Nora and Ren make their way towards the landing pad leaving Pyrrha and Jaune to deal with any survivors. The growing fires spreads around the two of them as even more types of Grimm flood into the settlement.

Pyrrha switches her spear into a rifle grabbing Jaune by the arm. "If anyone survived they most likely went to the town center for cover. We should head there now." She pulls Jaune up as tears roll from his face. "Jaune remember we are hunters of Vale the most esteemed hunters in all of Remnant!".

Jaunes wipes his tears with his free arm. "Thanks, Pyrrha. Let's get to the town hall."

Pyrrha nods in affirming what that had to do. The two of them sprint through burning buildings and bodies as the Grimm flood in around them becoming even more monstrous than before. The screams of the dying began to fade out to the chilling roar of Grimm surrounding the heart of the settlement. The building was in flames and the Grimm crawling over the structure trying to force their way in. Pyrrha fires round after round at the beasts before them carving a path straight to the large metal door of the town hall. She grips the door with her semblance and in a cry of pain pummels it into the advancing Grimm. The flying door gives them the opening they needed allowing them to move inside the building. Inside things were worse than the two hunters could have hoped for as charred bodies littered the halls as flames licked up the walls. They push their way up building as the flames were growing more intense making it much harder to breathe. The crackling of wood grew as the floorboards underneath them start to give way to the flames beneath them. Floor after floor the hunters ascended to the roof of the building through a small metal hatch. They survey the roof finding only the body of an older man in white robes now soaked with blood.

Pyrrha moves over and places her hand on his neck. "He's dead…"

Jaune kneels besides the corpse moving his hand over his frighten eyes closing them. "He trusted us to protect them… They all did!" Losing his cool he fell back collapsing to the ground. "Why should we be the only survivors, why did they have to die?"

Pyrrha gets up shutting the hatch to the lower flows, placing her weapon through its handles locking it in place. "Nora will be here we just need to hold on until then."

The roar of Grimm grows even louder as the hatch begins strain with the ascending Grimm when the low rumble of a transport ship came into view.

The transport door slams open mere yards from both Pyrrha and Jaune with Nora reaching her hand out towards the flames and Grimm that separated him from his teammates. "Jump! We can't hold this position long!"

Pyrrha grabs onto Jaune pulling him to the edge of the roof as the unthinkable happens. A violent roar shakes the ground beneath them as the hill outside of the settlement erupts into fire and lava. From the flames emerges a beast as dark as night and as large as the settlement itself. Out of its large black shell dozens of large clumps of fire hurls into the air, raining down on the remains of the settlement. One by one they impact into the earth throwing flames and debris into the air as it pulverizes all it touched. The massive Grimm shakes the ground as each of its projectiles land near the last standing structure where the hunters were. Then in a single fateful moment several flaming missiles tore through the base of the town hall, causing the structure to crumble.

The pilot of transport threw the door to the cabin open. "The heat has fried most of the circuits and we only have enough fuel to get back to Vale if we leave now!"

Nora looks over at Ren who was laying down on a stretcher and back toward the pilot. "We are not leaving without our teammate!"

A explosion goes off in the side engine of the transport throwing smoke and fire into the cabin.

The pilot's eyes widened as a multitude of alarms goes off in the cabin. "Crap we are losing power and the left engine is burning, I need to do a reroute, but there's no time!"

The transport began go into a freefall as it suddenly stops with Pyrrha crying out in pain. She grips onto the transport with her semblance as the floor beneath her and Jaune crumples as the flames grew closer.

Nora looks down at Pyrrha and Jaune with tears in her eyes. "No don't do it Pyrrha do…"

Pyrrha closes the door to the transport throwing it up into the air. The transport hums back to life as the pilot brings the power back online. "This bird is barely holding itself together we are leaving now!" He pushes down the thrust leaving the two hunters behind as the building crumbles to the ground.

Pyrrha and Jaune fell for what seems like an eternity as the town hall collapsed around them. Through burning wood and crumbling masonry Jaune and Pyrrha fell were falling to a fate sealed before their arrival.

The building completely crumbles throwing flames and debris out in all directions. The dust and ash settle to the ground as the Grimm overlook the destruction. Than through the smoldering wood and broken stone someone begins coughing.

Jaune opens his eyes, coughing violently as he attempts to gain his bearings. With squinted eyes he surveys the ash riddled area he landed in. The area was full of burning wood and crumbling stones, but for some reason they didn't land on him. He attempts to stand when a sharp pain shoots through his left arm, as he realizes a large splinter of wood protruding from his shoulder. He grabs on to the wood and in a scream of pain he removes the wood allowing blood to flow down his ash caked armor.

A distressing female voice breaks through the haze of ash and debris. "Jaune… is that you?"

Jaune clutches his shoulder darting towards the origin of the distressed voice. "Pyrrha where are you!" He yells tripping over himself as he rushed over to the side of a young woman blood running down her face. One of her hands was shaking uncontrollably, as the other hand was gripping a long metal pole protruding through her stomach.

A single green eye catches Jaune next to her bringing a faint smile to her face. "Thank the gods your saf…" She was cut off as she violently begins to cough up blood over her dented breastplate.

Jaunes stares at Pyrrha in absolute panic as tears course through the ash and dirt covering his face. "Pyrrha… I...I... I won't let you die her! We're getting out of here together!"

Her smile fades being replaced with a deep sadness as if she couldn't hide the gravity of the situation any longer. "Jaune I can't move, and even if I could I won't be able to hold the rubble up much longer."

Jaune steps back in shock, immediately looking up at the large metal door they we entered from. Jaune tried to form the words that would let him escape the situation, but nothing came out.

Pyrrha begins to grow paler as her blood puddled around her. "I grabbed the door with my semblance on our way down to shield us from the rubble, but…." Her voice trails off as she looks at the metal pierced through her. "I didn't have time to dodge…" She was cut off again coughing up more blood.

The roar outside the rubble intensifies, and the smaller ones tunneled their way to the two hunters craving the despair they felt.

Jaune looks at Pyrrha in a horrified shock, as his skin turned pale and his hands shaking. He pulls his sword from its sheath throwing the it to the ground. "I can't let you die! I won't! I… I…!"

Grimm flooded around him darting towards them in beastly rage. Jaune recklessly threw his sword side to side missing and stumbling as more and more Grimm surrounded him. One of the Grimm went in to attack, but at the last moment grabbed onto Jaune's sword kicking him across the rubble next to Pyrrha. Jaune looks down in despair at the fractured family heirloom that had failed him in his most desperate moment, and the Grimm drew closer to the two hunters.

Pyrrha in let go of the metal rod moving her hand towards Jaune. "Jaune… can you please come here… I need to tell you …. Something."

Jaune crawls over towards his teammate, leaning his body over hers.

Pyrrha smiles and moves her blood-soaked hand over towards his face bringing it closer to her. "I have always loved you Jaune… and I want you to know… I am so happy … I'm here with… you." Tears ran down her one green eye as she pulls Jaune closer kissing him. It was only for a moment, but it was a moment that captured the feelings, hopes, and dreams Pyrrha had for Jaune. The life she wanted to build with him. The family they would have had one day, and the feeling of growing old with the man of her dreams. She pulls her lips back placing her hand on his chest. "Run Jaune… please live…"

Pyrrha gripped onto Jaune's armor with her semblance, and through the screams and protest he put up threw him away from the rubble and pursuing Grimm. Her vision grew blurry as in her last moments she smiles at the face of despair releasing her semblance.

Jaune crumbles to the ground unable to control the grief that begins to overwhelm him as he begins to take in what just transpired. Then as if his legs decided to carry out Pyrrha's dying wish he ran. He ran and ran and ran leaving only tears and blood in his wake as the Pyrrha was buried in the rubble. "I'm so sorry Pyrrha!"

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 **Hello and salutations fellow readers of the inter webs. Thank you for taking the time to read my first RWBY fan fiction . This will be part one of three so don't fall into complete despair I brought the tissues. All comments and feedback is welcome, as I want to become a better writer to give you (the reader) the best content possible. Thank you again for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter!**


	2. From the Ashes

Chapter 2 -From the Ashes

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The blood from Jaune's shoulder continues to drip onto the floor of an underground cellar he found shelter in. He collapses onto the cold stone floor clutching to his wound, eyes bloodshot from a trauma he couldn't bring himself to believe. Jaune's hand fell to the ground cold and numb as warm blood begins to puddle underneath him. His body felt cold as numbness began spreading through his body. His vision begins to fade, "Pyrrha… please forgive me… I'm so weak… I just…" He murmurs as he slips off into the empty abyss.

The cold embrace that blankets Jaune disperses as something light thumps him on the head. He opens his eyes as a familiar looking orange haired girl rolls over on her bed crumbling up another paper ball. "Nora is that you?"

A puzzling look washes over Nora's face as she throws another paper ball at Jaune. "Were you having a nightmare Jaune? You were tossing and turning in your sleep, and you kept mumbling to yourself"

Picking up the two paper balls Jaune sits up on his bed inspecting his new surroundings, or should he say _old_ surroundings: it was his dorm room. Jaune looks down at himself, his blood-soaked armor was replaced with his blue onesie pajamas. "A nightmare… is that all it was?"

Nora sits up on her bed as she begins sniffing the air in anticipation looking over at the rooms door, as a dark-haired boy walks in with two platters of his renowned pancakes. He was wearing his trademark apron looking just like he did back during their days in the academy. "PANCAKES!" Nora yells jumping towards the food with her mouth practically drooling. Anticipating the trajectory of Nora, he reacts with a swift side step leaving Nora with a healthy helping of floorboard.

Ren smiles at Jaune placing one of the platters on the nightstand next to him. "Why it's about time you woke up, breakfast is ready and if you don't hurry I can guarantee that Nora will steal your plate."

Jaune slides off his bed letting out a sigh. "I guess it really was a nightmare after all." He whispers under his breath.

The door opens back up as a red-haired girl enters the room. "You really outdid yourself this time Ren. The pancakes smell amazing!"

Jaune freezes in place as he sees her. "Pyrrha is that really you?"

Pyrrha smiles over at Jaune. "Who else could I possibly be silly?"

Jaunes rubs the back of his neck, "Oh it's nothing I just had a really bad nightmare that's all."

Pyrrha grabs a plate of pancakes from Ren and sits down with next to Jaune. "Hey Jaune… I wanted to ask you something."

Jaune sits back down on his bed placing his pancakes on his nightstand. "Sure, what is it?"

She looks up at Jaune slightly blushing with a smile. "Why did you let me die?" She asks placings a small piece of pancake in her mouth.

Jaune freezing in place as his worst fears begin to wash over him, "What did you say?" He asks as if he didn't hear the words that left her lips.

Pyrrha giggles at Jaune as blood begins running from her eyes. "You're so silly Jaune. I asked why you let me die?" she asks cracking her head to the side as a large metal rods materializes in her gut, causing blood to stream down onto the hardwood floors.

Jaune collapses to the ground in shock as the nightmare of a reality was returning to him. The blood from Pyrrha's wounds begin to puddle on the floor as both Ren and Nora went on as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Jaune's memory floods with the mangled image of Pyrrha dying, over and over again in his head. "I'm so sorry Pyrrha I tried I really tried I…"

Pyrrha stands up from the bed moving over to Jaune grabbing him by the neck, pulling him off the ground up into the air. "You tried what? All you accomplished was getting your sword broken." She says in a soft concerned voice. She grabs onto the metal rod out of her stomach tearing it out. Blood spatters across the room, from the wall, to the floors, even covering Nora and Ren as they obliviously went on eating their now blood-soaked pancakes. Pyrrha raises the rod drenched in her own blood pressing it against Jaune's face. "Hey Jaune, wouldn't it be an amazing idea if you were to have this rod run through your pretty little head? You won't have to feel any more pain, all you have to do is give up. Stop struggling with your pointless existence. You are a failure of a hero, and nothing will ever change that!"

Tears begin running down Jaune's face as he grabs Pyrrha's arm in a desperate attempt to free himself. "Stop… It… Pyrrha… I can't… Breathe."

Ren walks up to Jaune taking off his apron and dropping it on the ground. "Hey Jaune, that reminds me I almost forgot to thank you. Thanks, Jaune for letting me burn." He calmly says grinning as flames begin to spark up over his face spreading across his whole body.

Jaune closes his eyes as Pyrrha tightens her grip on his neck. "It's all my fault as team leader, and I am sorry, I am so sorry that I let you get hurt Ren." He mutters as he looks down at Pyrrha with tears streaming down his face. "Pyrrha, you are the bravest and most beautiful women I have ever met, and without you I wouldn't be the hunter that I am today. If you want to kill me than by all means do it, but I will never betray the way I felt… no… the way I still feel for you. Pyrrha… I love you!"

Pyrrha smiles up at Jaune "Thanks Jaune…" she says as her body and the rest of the room dissipate into dust leaving Jaune alone in an endless expanse of white.

Jaune opens his eyes as the warm touch of someone's hand ran across his shoulder. He glances to his side realizing he was in lush green field, with grass as far as the eye could see, and a young beautiful woman in a red dress above him. "Pyrrha is that…"

She nods placing his head on her lap. "What do you think?"

Jaune frowns as he looks down at the grass next to his head. "So, you're not real either, just another part of this endless nightmare."

Pyrrha looks up at the blue partly cloudy sky. "Do you remember all the times we would go out and watch the clouds?"

Jaune sighs in remorse as he looks up at Pyrrha. "What does it matter this isn't real. You died back saving me, and now I have to carry that pain for as long as I live."

Pyrrha points up at the clouds "Look up at that one it kind of looks like a pony, oh and that one looks like a rook!"

Jaune's begins to tear up as he abruptly stands up throwing his hands in the air. "How the HELL does this matter! You are still DEAD, and nothing will change that! I killed you! I let you die, and you saved me after I failed you!" Jaune's tears begin to stream down his face as Pyrrha stands up.

She moves closer to Jaune looking him in the eyes. "Jaune, you are not responsible for my death. My choices were my own, and in reality, you are the one who saved me Jaune. All of my life I was treated as being perfect. No one knew who I really was until you came along, Jaune. You were the first person who treated me like a normal person. That's one of the wonderful qualities I love about you."

Jaune looks into Pyrrha's eyes trying to force a smile. "I guess that still makes me the lovable idiot doesn't it?"

Pyrrha chuckles under her breath. "Well you're in luck, as I find myself in need of one lovable idiot."

Jaune walks up to Pyrrha clenching his fist in frustration. "Don't you get it? I don't want to be the lovable idiot that people carry as a mascot! I want to be a great leader, a strong warrior, I want to be a hero like you Pyrrha…" Jaune's words trail off as tears begin flowing back down his cheeks.

Pyrrha places her hand on his cheek. "Jaune that's the thing, you still can fulfill your dream."

Jaune wipes the tears off his face. "What do you mean?"

Pyrrha takes a step back, placing her hands on both Jaune's shoulder and his scabbard. "Do you believe in me?"

Jaune nods closing his eyes. "Always."

Pyrrha's red aura begins to radiate around her as she moves in kissing Jaune on the forehead. "Then believe in the Jaune that I chose to place my love, as he is truly a man that will raise above the ashes."

Jaune frowns as he takes in the moment. "I only wish this dream was real…"

Pyrrha embraces Jaune holding him close. "Who says it isn't real?".

Jaune attempts respond finding himself speechless.

Pyrrha lets go of Jaune, taking a step back. "It's time for you to wake up Jaune, but I'll wait for you in the garden when the time is right."

Jaune opens his eyes throwing himself up from the blood-soaked stone floor. He was back in the cellar. The fields of grass were gone, and so was Pyrrha, _"It was a dream after all."_ He grabs onto his shoulder remembering the wound he had suffered. However, his shoulder didn't hurt and there didn't seem to be any blood. He takes a closer examination of where his shoulder was punctured to find it cauterized shut. _"Did my aura do this?"_

The sound of an alarm goes off in his back pocket sidetracking his focus to his Scroll. Pulling it out he sees a warning message covering the screen: _low power_. "That's weird scrolls should last up to a week on a single charge." he says to himself in confusion. He scrolls though the Scroll's menu selecting the activity log, _last activity: Mission log retrieved - five days ago_. "Five days! How long was I out?" He looks over at the message crosses the top of the screen: _No signal. "Of course, there's no signal. I need to find a way to call for help"._ He pulls up a pre-downloaded map of the settlement from his mission logs. _"Okay according to this map if I can reach the police station I should be able to use their communications center and call back to Beacon."_

Jaune slowly stands up as his foot bumps into the hilt of his blade. He picks it up, but instead of sheathing the blade he stopped and examined it. There was something off about it, as the broken sword seems to hum in his hand. _"It's probably nothing."_ He reassures himself immediately sheathing his weapon to focus on the direness of the two situations. Considering at this moment his life could very well depend on his Scrolls battery life.

Jaune creeps towards the wooden hatch on the other side of the cellar bracing himself for the horrors that should await him outside. Opening the hatch Jaune is overwhelmed with the smell of burnt and rotting flesh. Fighting the urge to vomit Jaune moves his way out of the cellar into what remains of the street.

Evasively moving throughout the streets Jaune slowly made his way across the corpse of a settlement when a low growl echoes in his direction. He dives behind a large rock for cover pulling out his Scroll as several Grimm pass unaware to his presence. Jaune swipes his finger across the scroll. "According to the map the police station should be located around here." He whispers to himself as he peeks around his cover. "Ah there it is."

He gets up looking towards the remains of the police station as his Scroll's battery dies. _"Here's hoping they have a phone"._

The buildings lights were flickering, and half of the structure was demolished by the Grimm. A small barricade was erected where the front door used to stand, and behind it the rotting remains of the police force. However, all wasn't lost as on the roof of the building stood an intact long-range transmitter.

Jaune steps over the makeshift barricade, as the stench of rotting flesh overwhelms him. He staggers over to a nearby wall vomiting what little he had left in his stomach. He wipes the vomit from his face gathering himself. "This must have been their last stand…". He mumbles to himself as he clenches his fist. "I will not die here… She wanted me to live… Her efforts will not be in vain!"

Jaune makes his way through the shattered glass door into the blood-soaked lobby. Climbing over rotting corpses he slowly walks up to the glass door labeled as Transmissions. The door was covered in construction tape and had a small note pasted onto its glass.

 _Transmission controls out of commission and awaiting repairs_.

Jaune opens the door to the room to find things were just as bad as the note entailed. The machinery around the room was blackened from what appears to have been an electrical fire, and none of the video screens were powered. "Well isn't this just great!"

The room falls silent as Jaune is interrupted by the sound of static pouring in from a nearby closest. Jaune darts his attention towards the sound, as he moves over opening the door. The closet was cluttered with an assortment of miscellaneous cleaning supplies and coat rack full of jackets. The static grew louder as Jaune moved towards the coats. He reaches into one of the coat pockets pulling out a small short-range radio earpiece which appeared to still have a charge. "This gives me an idea."

Jaunes makes his way out of the Transmissions room towards the stairwell. Climbing the stairs with the radio earpiece in tow he opens the door to the roof. The roof was empty for the most part aside from a large long-range transmitter which appeared to still be in the one piece. He moves over and sits down next to the transmitter. "Now assuming I don't die of electrocution, this should work." He mutters to himself as he opens the transmitters access panel. The panel is littered with small switches and ports all labeled in a technical language unknown to Jaune. Regardless he pulls out a small chip from the earpiece attempting to match it to one of the interface ports. "Well this one looks promising." He remarks to himself sliding the chip into one of the small ports, shutting the access panel while placing the earpiece in her ear.

The earpiece static hum began to fade as garbled voices could be made out on the other end. One of the access panels above him began to flash a a small signal icon indicating full signal. "Yes! Now I should be able to make a call from the panel." He presses the screen as a number pad appeared. _"Who do I call?_

With his Scroll dead there was only one number he could remember, and that was Ruby's. Back when Ruby helped him with his Cardin problem, she gave him her number just in case he was ever in any trouble _. "I wonder if she ever had this kind of trouble in mind when she gave it to me?"_

Jaune punches the numbers into the access panels causing the earpiece to ring. It rang for several seconds until Jaune hears the line connect with several voices in the background.

"Yang is it one of those dumb prank calls?" A all too familiar voice asks.

"Give me a minute Ruby, let me figure out who it is first", whispers Yang. She waits for a response, as Jaune remains speechless at the sound of his friends.

"Whoever you are, you choose the wrong person to mess with buddy, because I am going to… going to…" Yang impatiently says as Jaune interjects.

" Hey Yang, it's so nice to hear your voice…" Jaune's voice trails off as tears begin to well up in his eyes.

"Who is this, is this your idea of a sick joke?!", Yang's words sour as she yells back into the Scroll. " Do you find it funny to disrespect the dead!?"

" Yang it's really me… ask Ruby about my trouble with Cardin problem, and the advice she gave me."

The sound of sobbing grew louder, as the Ruby began to speak up. "Your still… alive. Jaune, it's really you." The tears grow louder as Yang speaks back up. " But how? Ren and Nora told us…" Her voice trails off , as she catches herself. " If you're still alive does that mean Pyrrha is with you?! Don't worry we can tell the headmaster the news , and maybe we can get the two of you guys back home!" Yang says trying to collect herself.

"Yang…" Jaune's voice cracked as tears began to roll down his cheeks. " She gave her life to same me…'

All Jaune could hear was the sound of tears from Yang and Ruby. Yang's voice breaks through the tears as she cleared throat. " Jaune, we will get you off that island even if I have to do it myself!" The determination of her voice brought some comfort to Jaune, as Yang speaks back up. " We are not losing another friend. Do you understand me? You are not allowed to die! I am going to bring the Scroll to the headmaster, hold on." Yang's voice moves into the background. " Ruby tell Nora and Ren what's going on and tell them to meet me in the headmaster's office."

A massive roar echoes throughout the island as Jaune turns back toward the massive Grimm that emerged from the hill. " Not again…"

The sound of Yang running breaks stops as Yang speaks up. " What's going on Jaune! Jaune answer me dammit!"

The ground begins to shake beneath Jaune as several smaller Grimm scale the walls of the police station. " Their back Yang! The Grimm are here!"

Jaune pulls out his broken sword from its sheathe parrying an attack from one of the Grimm who charged him. " Yang the Grim are everywhere! There are at least ten no a dozen of them, and I don't see a way out!"

Understanding the dire situation Jaune was in being outnumbered by the Grimm she yells out into the background. " Get the hell out of the way I need to get to the headmaster now! Jaune don't give up!"

Jaune lunges at the closest Grimm stabbing into it as another rips it's claws into Jaune's armor. " Agh dammit! I will not die here!" Jaune kicks at the Grimm staggering it backwards. " I will not let her death be in vain!" He side-steps pulling his broken blade out of the Grimm and into another as he repeatedly stabs into it. " You hear me! I will not die… I will not die… I WILL NOT DIE!". Having very little effect one of the Grimm hits Jaune across the rooftop into the transmission tower, where he falls to the ground in pain.

The sound of a door being slammed open rings out over the earpiece. An older man's voice speaks up over the transmission " Jaune this is the headmaster! What is the situation? What is going on over there?"

Jaune listens to the headmaster and looks back towards the Grimm moving in closer. Jaune braces himself as he accepts his hopeless moment.

The headmaster's yells begin to fade away as a familiar voice fills Jaune's ears.

" _Do you believe in me?"_

" _Always."_

" _Then believe in the Jaune that I chose to place my love, as he is truly a man that will raise above the ashes."_

Jaune pushes himself off the ground as he recalls the memory. " That's right… even if it was just a dream… I will not fail her… I will believe in her!" He yells out as his broken sword begins to softly glow red and white. " I will believe in the person that she believed in!" He slams his foot down as both his body and fragmented blade begin to glow brightly in a blend of white and red.

The multicolored aura consumes Jaune's body. _" Is this my semblance? If so why is my aura two colors? Regardless it feels so comforting, almost like I'm not alone in this nightmare."_

Jaune lunges towards one of the Grimm in front of him. " I will believe in myself!" the broken blade burns into the Grimm causing it to glow a bright red. Jaune throws the beast towards several other Grimm beside him. The Grimm explodes incantating several of them nearby. One of them thrusts its claws into Jaune's back, which immediately incinerates as it came into contact with the radiating aura surrounding him.

The roar of the massive Grimm sends another shockwave through the ground, as it slowly moves from the hills of rock and lava. The massive Grimm marches into the rubble of settlement casting a shadow over Jaune as the lumps on its back begins to change. The fiery cannons start to merge together into a pitch-black cylinder which begins to glow red.

Jaune plunges his sword into the last nearby Grimm dispersing it into ash. Jaune looks back at the beast as his aura breaks around him falling to one knee drained of aura. " What… was… that?"

The headmasters voice speaks up " Jaune if you can hear me we will come and get you, were going to bring you home."

The sound of papers shuffle in the background. " First things first, we need to understand the nature of this massive Grim that Ms. Nora report mentioned."

Jaune picks himself up looking towards the massive Grimm before him. "It came from the hill, and it is engulfed in flames, but besides that I don't know what to say."

The headmaster curses under his breath. "My god's… Jaune whatever you do, please don't provoke it! This is far worse than we could have anticipated."

Jaune is taken back. " How could this situation possibly be worse?"

The headmaster pauses as if the idea made him shutter. " That Grimm is known as _Skyfall_. I didn't want to believe her report, but it seems fate has its own plans. History tells us that it took the might or several armies to defeat this Grimm, and all they could do was put it to sleep. Jaune if that beast finds its way to Vale we could be talking global catastrophe! I need you to find a place to hide until I we can come together with a counter strategy. I'll call you bad as soon as we can. Stay safe Jaune!"

The line disconnects as the headmaster hangs up on his end. Jaune looks over at the beast shadowing over where the walls used to stand _. " If you're really this Skyfall Grimm I should try to find a somewhere to hide. I don't stand a chance against this beast."_

Jaune walks down to the _Transmission_ room looking around the broken computers and machinery trying to find anything useful before he went into hiding when he spots the rotting corpse of an officer in the hallway. Only the top half of the rotting corpse remained as it appears a Grimm chewed off his legs. However, he was in luck as the officer was holding onto a small box of flares. Jaune moves over peeling the box off the corpse ever so carefully. _" I'm sorry about this but this just might save my life."_

He moves back outside of the station where he first came in through stashing several flares in his equipment bag. _" Now I better find somewhere to hide."_

Jaune makes moves over to the edge of the wall near the station catching a pack of Grimm making their way through the streets. _" Well I guess the streets are out of the option."_

The ground near Jaune cracks open as one of the large turtle Grimm breaks through to the surface tearing through several buildings near the police station as it turns it gaze towards Jaune.

The moment their eyes meet Jaune darts over to the neighboring building's fire escape as smaller Grimm break through the windows on his way up to the roof. The tutle Grimm begins to charge into the building causing it's supports to crumble as smaller Grimm scaled the walls leaving only one route left, and that was down. Jaune starts to sprint across the roof as the Grimm close in on him with extreme haste. He takes his last step on the edge of the roof leaping off the building. The Grimm stumble and fall on the edge of the building as Jaune lands into the burnt remains of a merchant's cart.

Throwing broken boards off of himself, Jaune gets up realizing the Grimm where right behind him. He grabs onto a large piece of plank wood and smashes it across the face of an approaching Grimm. Startling the Grimm, Jaune darts down the street as he felt the ground begins to rubble. The large turtle Grimm was galloping in his direction with furry in its eyes. He bolts down a nearby ally where he finds himself before a stone wall blocking any hope of escape. The large turtle Grimm closes in on Jaune boxing him in as it's back begins to glow a bright fiery red. Jaune turns and does the only illogical thing he could think of: a direct attack.

Jaune pulls his broken blade out from its sheath focusing in on the blade. The weapon begins to glow white as he looks at it in surprise. Jaune grip tightens on his blade's handle as he looks up at the beast. " _It feels like my weapon is feeding off my aura or am I giving it my aura? Whatever is happening I couldn't have asked for better timing"_.

"Get out of my way!" Jaune exclaims as he lunges his blade towards the opposing Grimm.

Then in his moment of desperation, his aura shatters causing him to collapse. He looks at the blade in front of him, there was no aura surrounding it. "I guess I used too much aura, and of course it is at a time like this." He mutters seeing how grim his situation was becoming.

The large Grimm closes in blocking his escape arching its' back towards Jaune as the inferno the Grimm was about to fire a point-blank range was bursting at the seams. Jaune looks back at the wall behind him seeing it was far too high to scale he looks back up at the Grimm with determination in his eyes. " You will not kill me! I will survive because of …"

The explosion rips through the buildings surrounding Jaune, as everything in the immediate area including the Grimm went up in flames. The leveled area begins to dissipate as a figure shrouded in red remains at the heart of the explosion.

Jaune looks down at his hands as the red aura radiates from his body. " What is this? My aura is white, it's so comforting as if someone is holding onto me… could this be…". He closes his eyes thinking back as one though ran through his mind.

" _I only wish this dream was real…"_

" _Who says it isn't real?"_

The sound of his earpiece snapping him out of the captivating thought he was in. Jaune opens his eyes seeing the red aura was gone. He taps on the earpiece allowing the call to go through.

" Jaune are you there? This is Headmaster Ozpin, and I am afraid that I have grave news."

Jaune stands back up looking surveying his surroundings. " Yes, I'm here, but what could be graver than what has already happened?"

The headmaster stops for a moment taking in a breath of air. " Jaune the Grimm known as _Skyfall_ is what caused the near extinction the human and faunus races so many years ago. It has the terrifying ability to rain fire from the heavens and nobody can stop it from happening."

The Headmaster kept talking as the gravity of the situation settles on Jaune. _"What would Pyrrha do in a situation like this?"_

The roar of the massive Grimm echoes throughout the island shaking Jaune to his very core.

" _Do you believe in me?"_

" _Always."_

Jaune sheaths his broken weapon taping his earpiece. " Pardon me Headmaster, but I know what I must do."

* * *

 **Hello and salutations fellow readers of the inter webs. Thank you for taking the time to read my RWBY fan fiction . This is part two of three so don't get two upset at the cliffhanger. All comments and feedback are welcome, as I want to become a better writer to give you (the reader) the best content possible. Thank you again for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter!**

 **P.S - I am sorry for the long wait, as life kind of hit me in the face every time I tried to finish working on this chapter. I will try my best to finish the third chapter with haste, while bringing you readers the quality you deserve.**


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